Drupal alternatives in 2026: What enterprises must know

Over 200,000 Drupal sites still run version 7 (as of November 2025). That version died on January 5, 2025.

Hundreds of thousands of sites remain stuck on infrastructure that no longer receives security patches. The reason? The Drupal 7 to 10 upgrade path requires a complete rebuild, not a simple update.

If you’re finally ready to move, the question is where to go next.

Organizations evaluating alternatives to Drupal face a fragmented landscape: open-source CMS platforms, headless content infrastructure, and proprietary DXP suites all competing for the same migration budgets.

These factors may be at the top of your mind:

A shrinking talent pool that makes hiring difficult and expensive.
Upgrade complexity that turns version migrations into full re-platforming projects.
Operational inefficiency where content teams still need developers for routine publishing tasks.

This guide examines what actually matters when evaluating Drupal alternatives: talent availability, development speed, total cost of ownership, and operational independence for marketing teams.

Why organizations are leaving Drupal now

The triggers for re-platforming have evolved beyond traditional complaints about steep learning curves. Today’s migration decisions are driven by harder realities.

Talent scarcity drives up costs

Drupal’s market share has slipped to 0.7% of all websites according to W3Techs. The developer pool shrinks accordingly. Senior engineers command similar rates across both platforms, but Drupal specialists are harder to find. That scarcity extends timelines and limits your hiring options.

The 2025 Drupal Developer Survey paints a troubling picture:

Developer optimism dropped from 80% in 2024 to 64% in 2025.
The age distribution is stark. Only 1 respondent was under 21. Developers aged 21-29 fell from 59 to 44 despite 106 more total responses.
When researchers looked at developers with less than one year of experience, they found just 11 globally.

The talent pipeline has nearly stopped.

Upgrade complexity forces rebuild decisions

The Drupal 7 to 10 migration path is more than just an upgrade. It requires rebuilding custom modules, restructuring content types, and often redesigning the entire site architecture. Organizations facing this work increasingly ask: if we’re rebuilding anyway, should we rebuild on a platform with better long-term economics?

Content teams still depend on developers

Drupal’s Paragraphs module and Layout Builder let editors assemble pages from reusable components, but the learning curve remains steep. Content updates often still require developer assistance for anything beyond simple text changes. For organizations publishing frequently, this dependency compounds into significant operational overhead.

If your organization faces any combination of these pressures, evaluating alternatives seriously makes sense.

How to evaluate Drupal alternatives

The best alternatives to Drupal for scalability and developer-friendly features share common traits: modern PHP foundations, API-first architecture, and ecosystems that don’t require vendor lock-in to access enterprise capabilities.

Your evaluation criteria have evolved. Features and flexibility matter less than they did five years ago. What matters now:

Total cost of ownership

Factor in developer time, upgrade complexity, talent availability, and the hidden cost of glue code connecting disparate systems. Gartner’s TCO framework emphasizes that annual costs to own and manage software can reach 3-4x the initial purchase price when you account for personnel, maintenance, and infrastructure.

Talent pool

Your CMS choice determines your hiring pool. Do market research on how many junior and senior developers you can hire for your platform of choice. This number affects hiring timelines, contractor rates, and your ability to scale teams quickly. A platform with a shrinking talent pool creates long-term staffing risk.

Operational efficiency

Can your content team publish without developer involvement? The time from idea to published content directly affects business outcomes. Platforms requiring developer assistance for routine updates impose an ongoing operational tax.

Performance and optimization

Page speed affects SEO rankings, conversion rates, and user experience. Evaluate how each platform handles caching, CDN integration, image optimization, and Core Web Vitals out of the box versus requiring custom development.

Ecosystem maturity

A platform is only as valuable as the integrations, talent, hosting infrastructure, and community surrounding it. That dominance creates a network effect: more plugins, more themes, more developers, more documentation.

AI readiness

The platforms building AI capabilities into their architecture now will have significant advantages as these features mature. We’re not talking about bolted-on chatbots here, but architectural decisions that make platforms discoverable and controllable by AI agents.

WordPress: The leading open-source alternative

WordPress in 2026 is the leading Drupal alternative for enterprise CMS. It’s not the blogging platform you remember. WordPress now powers NASA.gov, WhiteHouse.gov, and many high-traffic sites on the web. It commands 60% of the CMS market share and 42.8% of all websites.

The platform has closed major gaps in security, scalability, and editorial experience while maintaining what enterprises researching Drupal competitors value most: open-source flexibility without vendor lock-in.

Editor experience that doesn’t require developers

WordPress’s block editor provides visual, intuitive content creation. Editors build pages by arranging blocks for text, images, media, buttons, and layout structures. They preview exactly what visitors will see. Day-to-day content updates happen without developer involvement.

FleetNet America, a Cox Automotive company, experienced this firsthand after rtCamp migrated them from Drupal 9 on Acquia to WordPress VIP. The migration was completed in just a few weeks with a 2x improvement in Core Web Vitals performance. Their Digital Marketing Manager called WordPress ‘an excellent choice for Enterprise B2B needs.’

Development speed favors WordPress

WordPress sites launch faster because the ecosystem provides more ready-made solutions. The plugin directory contains 60,000+ free plugins.

A TCO analysis by us found that Drupal’s modular architecture necessitates extensive custom development, whereas WordPress allows teams to build enterprise stacks with considerably less reliance on custom development due to its developer-friendly frameworks and native integrations.

Cox Automotive consolidated 8 separate websites onto WordPress using rtCamp’s OnePress framework. The result: 103% increase in visitor engagement, 100% increase in lead conversions, and 70-80% code reuse across properties.

Complex data modeling with the right partner

A common objection: Drupal handles complex data modeling better than WordPress. This was once true. WordPress has come a long way since then.

Today, the Block Bindings API, Custom Post Types, Advanced Custom Fields, and careful database architecture address most enterprise data modeling needs. Drupal’s entity reference system maps to WordPress’s relationship fields and custom taxonomies. Drupal Views translate to WP_Query with custom parameters. The difference is implementation expertise, not platform limitation.

Performance that passes Core Web Vitals

WordPress sites built correctly consistently outperform legacy CMS installations on Core Web Vitals.

Pasqal, a quantum computing company, migrated to WordPress VIP with rtCamp. Their Core Web Vitals score improved from 66 to 90. Largest Contentful Paint dropped from 7.9 seconds to 3.7 seconds.

Granular permissions and workflows

Drupal’s native permissions system remains more granular out of the box, particularly for workflow-to-permission integration. WordPress requires plugins like PublishPress or User Role Editor to match this depth.

For most organizations, plugin-based solutions work fine. For those requiring complex multi-stage editorial workflows with per-transition permissions, this is a genuine evaluation criterion. See our security comparison for details.

Government sector: WordPress is now the standard

Drupal dominated government websites for a decade. WhiteHouse.gov moved to Drupal in 2009, establishing a template that agencies followed.

That era has ended.

WhiteHouse.gov migrated to WordPress in December 2017, saving approximately $3 million annually. The Biden administration stayed on WordPress and completed a full redesign in 6 weeks before the 2021 inauguration.

NASA.gov completed one of the largest federal migrations ever in September 2023: 126,171 pages migrated, 104,525 media assets, 550+ content creators. They evaluated over 100 CMS platforms before selecting WordPress.

WordPress VIP achieved FedRAMP Moderate Authorization in April 2025, matching Acquia’s compliance level. State.gov and all U.S. embassies worldwide now run identical WordPress themes and plugins.

Australian GovCMS and Canadian Drupal WxT remain Drupal-exclusive. But the momentum has shifted. New government projects increasingly choose WordPress.

The AI advantage

WordPress 6.9 shipped the Abilities API, a foundational system that makes WordPress functionality discoverable by AI agents. The MCP Adapter bridges WordPress to AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT. Content teams can ask an AI assistant to draft a post, schedule publication, or run a site audit. The AI handles the WordPress interaction.

This is not speculative future technology. WordPress.com supports MCP integration for all paid plans today.

Data Liberation ensures you’re never locked in

The WordPress Data Liberation project provides standardized tools to migrate content into and out of WordPress. One-click migration from platforms like Drupal is the goal. WordPress is committed to keeping your data portable. You can always leave.

WordPress as a composable DXP

Neither WordPress nor Drupal is a complete Digital Experience Platform by itself. Modern DXPs are built by composing best-of-breed tools, with the CMS serving as the content layer.

Traditional monolithic DXPs like Adobe Experience Manager struggle to keep up with rapidly changing business needs. They lock you into rigid ecosystems, slow innovation, and high costs.

WordPress, with its open-source foundation and vast integration capabilities, works as an open DXP. The State of Enterprise WordPress Survey 2025 found that 57% of enterprise respondents use only WordPress for their CMS/DXP needs. Just 4% said they use Drupal.

WordPress integrates with major marketing technology stacks: HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo, Segment, Google Analytics, etc. The integration ecosystem is mature and well-documented.

For organizations needing personalization, DAM, CDP, and analytics capabilities alongside content management, WordPress provides a flexible foundation. The right implementation partner connects the pieces.

The Acquia question for Drupal organizations

Organizations currently on Drupal often consider Acquia as the enterprise path forward. The reality deserves honest examination.

Vista Equity Partners acquired majority ownership of Acquia in September 2019 for approximately $1 billion. Real Story Group’s June 2025 assessment: ‘Vista Equity Partners has clearly pivoted the playbook from grow at all costs to squeeze out margin.‘

Documented changes include shelved IPO plans, organizational restructuring, support shifted near/offshore, North American headcount trimmed, and aggressive upselling of suite products.

Acquia has expanded into personalization, DAM (with Widen), CDP (with AgilOne), and accessibility (with Monsido). This creates a platform that behaves increasingly like proprietary Adobe or Sitecore suites while marketing ‘openness.’

Community concerns about Acquia’s influence on Drupal’s direction have grown. Many contributing engineers are on Acquia’s payroll. The most advanced AI and personalization features increasingly require Acquia’s paid ecosystem.

Real Story Group’s recommendation: ‘Avoid bundling temptations. Each Acquia tool must stand on its own merit; compare to best-of-breed alternatives before buying the full suite.‘

Acquia competitors for Drupal hosting include Pantheon and Upsun (formerly Platform.sh). Pantheon earns higher satisfaction scores on developer experience, transparent pricing, and multisite flexibility (Note: rtCamp is a Pantheon partner and can assist with migrations). Upsun appeals to DevOps teams wanting container-based, Git-driven infrastructure. Both avoid Acquia’s bundled marketing tools that many organizations don’t need.

Drupal competitors in the DXP space

Some organizations evaluating Drupal competitors are considering full DXP platforms. These trade open-source flexibility for vendor-managed infrastructure.

The 2025 Drupal Developer Survey asked developers about their experience with competing platforms. The verdict on commercial DXPs was harsh: Sitecore, AEM, Kentico, and Umbraco were ‘very widely not recommended’ by developers who had used them.

Adobe Experience Manager

AEM is the elephant in the DXP room. Annual licenses typically start in the six-figure range and climb from there based on page views, API calls, and modules. AEM Sites starts around $60,000 per year, and AEM Forms begins at $80,000 (source). Add enterprise implementation costs for complex multi-site deployments, and the total first-year investment can exceed $1 million.

AEM’s strength is deep integration with Adobe’s marketing suite: Analytics, Target, Campaign. If your organization already runs the Adobe stack, the integration story is compelling. If not, you’re paying a premium for capabilities you may never use.

Its learning curve is also steep. Content authors and developers both require significant training. AEM implementations routinely take 12-18 months before teams reach full productivity.

Sitecore

Sitecore has rebranded everything under SitecoreAI, a unified platform with simplified pricing. The costs remain substantial. Enterprise implementations typically exceed $100,000 annually, with usage-based pricing that penalizes high-traffic sites.

For heavily regulated industries where vendor liability transfer matters, Sitecore’s manufacturer status may reduce compliance burden. Migration away from Sitecore is notoriously difficult. Organizations choose Sitecore when regulatory requirements justify the expense.

Optimizely

Optimizely focuses on experimentation and personalization. Entry-level pricing reportedly starts at $36,000 per year, scaling to $200,000+ for high-traffic enterprise implementations.

Like Sitecore: high cost, significant vendor lock-in, opaque pricing that makes total cost hard to predict. Both were acquired by private equity and have expanded through acquisition.

Kentico

Kentico positions itself as the budget-friendly enterprise option. Xperience by Kentico starts at $990/month for self-managed licenses, with SaaS options beginning at $1,990/month. Enterprise annual licenses start around $23,000. That’s roughly a fifth of what Sitecore or AEM costs.

The tradeoff: Kentico’s ecosystem is smaller. Finding experienced Kentico developers takes longer than finding WordPress or even Drupal talent. The platform is .NET-based, which limits your hosting options and developer pool compared to PHP-based alternatives.

The open DXP alternative

WordPress, as an open DXP, offers comparable content management and integration capabilities at a lower cost with no lock-in. Personalization through plugins and integrations. Analytics through Parse.ly or Google Analytics. DAM through integrated solutions. The difference: you own the architecture and can swap components.

The case for staying on Drupal

Fairness requires acknowledging that Drupal has improved. The Drupal CMS initiative (formerly Starshot) launched on January 15, 2025, and directly addresses some of its historical complaints.

Its browser-based installation eliminates Composer complexity. Recipes provide pre-packaged feature sets. The Project Browser lets site builders install modules without command line access. Automatic updates reduce maintenance burden.

Drupal Canvas (formerly Experience Builder) provides a React-based visual editor with true WYSIWYG editing. It’s comparable to WordPress’s mature Gutenberg editor, though Drupal Canvas was launched just recently.

When staying makes sense: organizations with functioning Drupal 10/11 installations, institutional Drupal expertise, and complex data relationships already built may find that maintenance costs less than migration. Government entities with specific Drupal mandates have compliance reasons to stay.

But evaluate honestly whether the ongoing talent premium, upgrade complexity, and operational dependencies justify continued investment.

Choosing the right Drupal alternative

Choose WordPress if

You want the largest ecosystem of integrations, themes, and talent. Editorial teams need to publish without developer assistance. AI capabilities and future-readiness matter. You want to avoid vendor lock-in with guaranteed data portability. Total cost of ownership is a priority.

Choose commercial DXPs if

You have a lot of money lying around. Why? These platforms require your budget to accommodate licensing costs exceeding $100,000 annually. You’re OK with vendor lock-in for guaranteed SLAs. You are in heavily regulated verticals where you don’t want to take any risks.

Note: WordPress can also handle highly-regulated industries with the right partner.

Stay on Drupal if

Your existing Drupal 10/11 investment is functioning well. Institutional knowledge and trained staff are in place. Specific compliance mandates require Drupal. Migration cost genuinely exceeds long-term maintenance cost.

Conclusion

The enterprise CMS landscape favors simplicity and integrated platforms. For the vast majority of content management needs, WordPress offers the lowest-risk, highest-value alternative to Drupal.

WordPress leads in operational efficiency, talent availability, and total cost of ownership thanks to its massive ecosystem. The AI integration capabilities via the Abilities API and MCP Adapter, combined with the commitment to data liberation, position it for the future.

The question is not whether WordPress can handle enterprise requirements. NASA, WhiteHouse.gov, and Fortune 500 companies have answered that. The question is whether your organization is ready to benefit from a platform with better economics and a larger talent pool.

If migration complexity is a concern, rtCamp specializes in high-stakes Drupal to WordPress migrations with established methodologies. FleetNet America, Cox Automotive, and dozens of enterprise clients have made the transition successfully.

Start your migration planning today.

FAQs about Drupal alternatives

Which is the most widely used CMS?

WordPress powers 42.8% of all websites and controls 60% of the CMS market. The next largest competitor is Shopify at 6.7%, followed by Wix at 5.2%. Drupal holds 0.7% of all websites and 1.0% of the CMS market.

Drupal CMS competitors have reshaped the landscape since 2021. The platform holds 1.1% of websites overall with 1.8% CMS market share, ranking sixth behind WordPress (62%), Shopify (6.7%), Wix (5.2%), Squarespace (3.2%), and Joomla (2.0%). But raw market share obscures Drupal’s enterprise concentration: among the top 1,000 highest-traffic sites, Drupal powers 7.5% compared to WordPress’s 47.5%.

Why are enterprises moving away from Drupal?

Several factors drive enterprise departures from Drupal: talent scarcity that increases costs and extends timelines, upgrade complexity where major version migrations require substantial rebuilding, and operational efficiency concerns where content teams increasingly expect self-service publishing without developer involvement.

How does WordPress compare to Drupal on total cost of ownership?

WordPress typically costs less to build, staff, and maintain. The larger talent pool means faster hiring and more competitive contractor rates. Plugin ecosystems reduce custom development needs. Drupal’s shrinking market share makes specialists harder to find, which extends timelines and limits flexibility. See our detailed Drupal vs WordPress cost comparison for specific breakdowns.

Is Drupal still relevant in 2026?

Drupal remains relevant for specific use cases. The Drupal CMS initiative has addressed many historical usability complaints. However, Drupal’s market share continues declining while WordPress grows. For new projects without Drupal-specific requirements, the ecosystem advantages of WordPress are difficult to ignore.

How long does a Drupal to WordPress migration take?

Migration timelines vary based on content volume, custom functionality, and integration complexity. Simple marketing sites migrate in weeks. Complex enterprise installations with custom modules, workflows, and integrations may take months. rtCamp completed FleetNet America’s Drupal 9 to WordPress VIP migration in just a few weeks with 2x performance improvement.

Can WordPress handle enterprise-scale websites?

Yes. WordPress powers some of the highest-traffic sites on the web, including NASA.gov (30 million monthly visitors), Time Magazine, TechCrunch, and The New Yorker. Enterprise WordPress hosts like WordPress VIP, Pantheon, and WP Engine provide infrastructure optimized for scale, security, and compliance. WordPress VIP is FedRAMP Moderate authorized. The question is not whether WordPress can handle enterprise scale, but which implementation partner fits your requirements.